Nonsinkable coat



H. R. HART NONSINKABLE COAT Filed May 1922 INVEN OR ATTORNEYS body.

HENRY RIDGEV'AY EAR/l, QF IiiONTC/LAIR, HE)? NONSINKABLE COAT.

Application filed May .39,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY RrDenwAY Harri, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in Montclair, in the State of New Jersey, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in' Nonsinlrable Coats, ,f which thefollowing is a specification,reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part hereof.

This invention relates to a coat which is warm and comfortable and yetis of such construction as to be nonsinkable and actually affordsuflicient buoyancy to sustain the body of the wearer in case he isaccidentally thrown into the water. Such a coat has especial usefulnessfor aviators. The principal object of the invention is to provide a coatwhich shall present an eX- ternal appearance of conventional and sightlyform and be thoroughly comfortable in conformation and yet haveincorporated directly therein material which will afford suflicientbuoyancy to keep the wearer afloat. Another object of the invention isto provide buoyant material in such a coat which shall be of suchcharacter and so distributed as to place the center of buoyancy of thewearer above the center of gravity so as to maintain him in uprightposition, or substantially so, when afloat. A. third object of theinvention is to provide in such a non-sinkable coat means which shallhold the same in desired relation to the body of the wearer, whenafloat, and prevent its disarrangement with respect thereto so that thecenter of buoyancy will always be maintained in substantially itspredetermined relation to the In accordance with the last named objectof the invention a strap arrangement is provided which will prevent thecoat from riding up on the body and yet will be of unobjectionable formand appearance and partially concealed when the coat is in ordinary use.

The objects enumerated above will appear more clearly with reference tothe description of the preferred embodiment of the invention which isillustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a View in elevation of the improved coat, one of the flapsbeing turned back to show the relation of the retaining strap to thecrotch of the wearer.

Figure 2 is a view in vertical transverse section through the coatillustrated in Figure 1 and showing the manner in which the buoyantmaterial is incorporated.

The coat a is made of any suitable warm and water-proof material such aswaterproofed gabardine. An inner lining a, of similar material isprovided. Incorporated directly between the outer cloth a. and the innerlining a is a stuffing Z) of quilted ilanasill: or kapok, which addswarmth to the coat and is of pliable buoyant material. This kapokpossesses properties which lends itself admirably to the use describedin that it is readily tailored and conforms in a desirable way to thelines of the body and insures the provisions of a thoroughly comfortableand well fitting garmentn In accordance with the invention the buoyantmaterial is so disposed with respect to the coat and is of such bulk atdifferent sections thereof as to place the center of buoyancy, indicatedat X in Figure 1 well above the center of gravity of the wearer, therebymaintaining the body in substantially upright position when afloat. Tothis end, it will be observed from Figure 2 that the kapok 7) is notextended to a point far below the waist of the wearer and that it isplaced in substantially greater bulk above the waist, in the region ofthe chest. than it is lower down. In this way, the desired dispositionof the center of buoyancy is secured.

It will be understood that a non-sinkable coat to be effective must beheld against riding up on the body or disarrangement with respectthereto when the body is afloat. Accordingly, the improved coat isprovided with a retaining strap which prevents such disarrangement in avery satisfactory manner and is itself of unobjectionable form andappearance. A belt 0 encircles the waist and is held in predeterminedrelation thereto by means of loops d. This belt, while of pleasingappearance in a garment of this kind performs an important mechanicalfunction in the improved coat. From Figure 2 it appears clearly that aretaining strap 6 is buttoned as at f on to the coat in the center ofthe back and passes downward over the belt 0. It is passed through thecrotch of the wearer and up under the front of the coat as shown inFigure 1 and buttoned on to one of the retaining buttons a of the coatitself. In ordinary use, it will be evident that this strap e might beremoved entirely from the coat or, if not removed, appears only to avery slight degree at the back of the coat and does not show at all infront. hen the wearer is afloat the strap 0 prevents the coatfrom ridingup on the body and holds it against disarrangement so that the center ofbuoyancy is not disturbed. Some of the pressure imposed on the strap atthis time is transmitted directly by it to the encircling belt 0 which,being rather tight on the body transmits some of these strains to thebody over a great length.

From the description given it will be evident that the improved coat notonly serves ordinarily as a warm and comfortable garment for generalsport wear and for aviation but, being non-sinkable, alfords anadditional factor of safety against drowning in case the wearer getsoverboard. The

features particularly described herein are such as have been found inpractice to satisfy the requirements of the art.

What I claim is:

A non-sinkable coat of the character described, comprising buoyantmaterial incorporated with the upper part of the coat so that the centerof buoyancy of the wearer is above his center of gravity, and a strapbuttoned to the back of the coat, extending downwardly, between the legsof the wearer, and upwardly, underneath the lower front portion of thecoat and buttoned at its end to the coat, whereby the strap issubstantially invisible from the front and a belt en- I! circling thewaist exteriorly of the coat.

This specification signed this 26th day of May A. D. 1922.

HENRY RIDGEWAY HART.

